This invention relates generally to an apparatus that redirects and may reorient, or xe2x80x98flipxe2x80x99 from one side facing up to the other, a continuous web of material under tension, such as paper, fabric and the like between two processing devices such as printers, web winding machines, cutters, slitters, mergers, or folders. It is particularly directed to an apparatus that may reorient or flip a continuous paperweb prior to the web""s entry into a processing devices.
In addition to the xe2x80x9cBackground of the Inventionxe2x80x9d stipulated in the parent application referenced above, there is a need in print shops to selectively orient a paperweb so that one or the other side of the web faces up upon entering a web processing machine. Certain print jobs require single side printing, while others require printing on both sides of the web. It may be advantageous to rewind a roll of printed web with one side or the other facing up, or to slit or crosscut a web with either the even numbered or odd numbered pages facing up. What is needed in the art is an apparatus that will allow the user to select which side of the web faces up or down upon its entry into a subsequent processing machine without the need for additional processing steps or movement of equipment. In the past, print jobs were often performed in a batch process rather than a continuous process line taking a virgin roll of paperweb to a completed printed product. For example, a print job may have been partially printed on a web which was then wound on a rewind roll, the roll was then moved into alignment with the next processing device, and so on. As compared to a continuous process line, a batch process is time consuming, labor intensive, requires numerous rewind machines, and subjects the paper web to greater risk of tears and misalignment. One system that alleviates this problem for certain pre-positioned machinery is shown in co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,707, herein incorporated by reference. That patent is tailored to two processing devices whose control panels face each other, referred to as an xe2x80x9cH-1xe2x80x9d setup. But this system alone does not allow a user to selectively choose whether the web being fed into the second printer is in the face up or face down orientation.
Many common print jobs are executed by passing a web between two printers. In one such job requiring two-sided printing, a first printer prints on one side of the web and a second printer prints on the other side. Another such job requires printing on one side only, but the first printer executes only a portion of the print (such as black and white text) and the second printer executes the remaining portion of the print (such as color highlights). This technique optimizes speed in certain print jobs since color generally prints slower than black and white but is often less pervasive on a page.
An object of the present invention is to provide a web control matrix between two processing devices with the ability to selectively choose which side of the web faces up prior to the web""s entry into a subsequent processing device.
In accordance with the present invention, a matrix is provided that enables a plurality of alternative paths for a web to pass therethough. The web has a first side facing up upon entering the matrix in a first direction and an obverse side, and exits the matrix via a second direction that may or may not differ from the first direction. The web moves through the matrix from one processing device to another such device under tension imposed by at least one of these processing devices. The matrix comprises a plurality of upright supports spaced laterally from each other; a first turnbar mounted to at least one support at an angle xcex1 with the first direction; a second turnbar mounted to at least one support at an angle xcex2 with the first direction; and a third turnbar mounted to at least one support at an angle xcfx86 with the first direction. The web""s obverse side faces up as it exits the matrix if the web passes about only one or all three of these turnbars, and its first side faces up as it exits the matrix if the web passes about two of these turnbars. In this manner, the web""s orientation or flip, that is, whether the web""s first side or its obverse side faces up, can be determined merely by threading the web in one way or another through the matrix.
The matrix may be further improved by the addition of a fourth turnbar parallel and opposite to the third, allowing the user to choose not only web orientation but the direction the web passes out of the matrix. More turnbars may be added for increased flexibility, though the most pertinent capabilities are present in the matrix incorporating four turnbars.